When in Doubt
by GingerHaruhi
Summary: When Mori and Honey's cousin manages to end up as a host, what kind of trouble will this create for our colorful cast of characters? No pairings yet but there might be some HostxOC action later on. When in Doubt...!
1. Meet Piper Sayanozuka!

Hey Everybody! It's Aleya of Team GingerHaruhi. Thank you for clicking on this FanFic out of the bazillion other ones out there! (subliminal messaging: comment, comment again, and favorite!) Please enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: We don't own Ouran, only our OC's! Please watch the show first!

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Today, our story starts out on a rainy day, a week from the exciting endeavor at the school festival.

Our lazy heroine, Haruhi Fujioka walked down the hall. "I have to hurry if I want to finish this report and make it to the host club on time!" She muttered to herself.

"Oh geez!" A first year girl ran into the covered school hallway as the rain started to pour. "Crap, I'm soaked!" _Oh, god. First day back in Ouran, and I've already messed something up!_ the girl thought. She watched one of the oh-so-famous host club boys (Fuji-something, perhaps?) walk briskly down the hall in front of her. They were the talk of the school, but she didn't see why...

Her thoughts began to wander, as they often did. Maybe her cousin had some sort of solution for her wetness, he usually did. Now that they were in the same school again, she would think it a good relief from having to make new friends.

At the Kendo Club

The girl swept red bangs out of her eyes and peeked in the Kendo Club room.

She wasn't surprised to see her second cousin sitting just inside the door,

"Oh! Pi-chan!" He said sweetly. He held his bunny in his hand as usual. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," the girl said. "I'm soaked and I was hoping Taka-chi would know how to help me. He was always able to help us in middle school, so I was hoping he could help me now. I mean, it's not everyday you move back to a rich high school and end up soaked."

Honey just giggled. "Your always kind of a mess, aren't you Pi. You should come with us to our next thing! They'll have something for you to change into, even if it's just Cosplay."

The girl smiled. "What kind of thing?"

"The host club!" And he said it as though it were obvious.

"Wow Mitsu-kun. You guys are a part of that?" She asked skeptically. Then, after thinking for a moment, the girl added,"I guess it's kind of obvious, after all, everyone's always loved you guys."

"Oh, people would love you more too if you would talk more!"

"I talk to you guys..."

Just then, Takashi Morinozuka walked over to the pair.

"Taka-chi!" Pi nearly hugged him. Then she looked down and realized she was still wet. She guessed she didn't really need to hug him. After all, she had seen him this morning and she would be with him until later when they would all go home together.

"Piper." He said, surprised. "You're wet."

"And?" She demanded, a weird, quirky smile twisting her lips. She was glad to see her cousin, even if he was three years older than her. What did that have to do with anything? She didn't know.

Promptly, he picked her up and began to carry her to his and Mitskuni's next "thing".

"Ya. Great to see you too. You can put me down now..." Piper said, unamused.

"No."

"Why not?!"

"You'll trip."

After reflecting on the thought for a moment, Piper figured this was probably true and grumpily allowed her cousin to carry her the rest of the way to music room three.

She realized, as they had almost reached their destination, that people were giving her funny looks and whispering at each other. Immediately, she realized just what kind of situation she was in. A famous member of the host club was carrying a strange, not to mention drenched, girl down the hallway.

_Oh geez. I guess none of them remember me... It's only been three years. I mean, am I really that forgettable?_

She just sighed as Takashi set her down, gently of course, in front of the large, fancy, double doors of music room three.

The pair next to her nodded at her to open the door.

Carefully, she turned the long, swirling design of the brass door handle. The smell of rose petals hit her so hard, she nearly puked.

"Welcome, princess." She heard a chorus of voices say, beckoning her inside their lair.

Wearily, she looked around the room, and then back to her cousins. "This is the host club?" She gulped.

They just nodded, Mitskuni had a silly grin on his face.

"Well, well, well. It seems we have a new guest." The tall, blonde boy in the middle of the tableaux* stood up. "Tell me princess," he said in a soothing voice. "Why are you wet?"

She took a step back.

"Um," Piper said shyly. "It's raining?"

"Is it?" The blonde boy asked.

Then, the raven haired boy broke out of his position and walked forward as well. He whispered in the blonde boy's ear.

"Oh, I didn't realize," He said.

"What?" Asked the red-headed twins. They looked sort of familiar.

"Welcome to the Host Club, Miss Sayanozuka," said the raven-haired boy.

"Okay, and what does that mean?" Asked the twins again.

"This is my other cousin," said Mori.

"Pi-chan!" Added Mitskuni.

Piper just stood there, kind of confused. What had her cousins been doing in the three years she'd been gone?

"She's in your year. I'm surprised you didn't recognize her," said the raven-haired boy.

"We knew who she was but we didn't realize she was your cousin, Mori-sempai," said one of the twins.

"She's only been here a day, and she doesn't talk much," continued the other.

"From what we can tell though, she can draw!" They finished in unison.

"An artist..." Mumbled the raven-haired boy as he scribbled in his notebook.

"Um..." Piper started.

"Can Piper borrow an extra uniform to change into? Her's is wet," said Honey.

"All we have is a male uniform," said the raven-haired boy. "I suppose you could see if it fits you..." He handed Piper a bag.

Honey showed her to the back changing room before bouncing back to Mori.

"Wow sempai," said Haruhi. "I didn't know you had another cousin."

"Well, ya!" Said Honey. "Don't you have two sets of cousins? One on your mom's side and one on your dad's?"

Now that she thought about it, she didn't have _any_ cousins. Both of her parents had been only children.

"We've got lots of cousins," said Hikaru, his brother smiling behind him.

"Ya, but we don't really see them," continued Kaoru.

"I wonder if I've got any cousins?" Tamaki thought aloud.

"Who knows," said Kyoya, uninterested in their conversation.

Piper walked out of the changing room, looking quite sharp in her new uniform. She looked almost like a boy, with the exception of her ponytail of course. "Um, thank you." She said quietly, before standing with her cousins.

"Do you know a good hair guy? I figured I'd cut my hair. You know, a new haircut for a new place and all that?" Piper asked Mori.  
He just shook his head in a silent "no".

"How's Ryan doing?" Asked Honey.

"As spazzy as ever," Piper replied with a small laugh and her quirky, little smile.

Suddenly,Tamaki's face grew serious. "The customers will be here soon! Piper, hide!"

Piper's face suddenly changed as well. "Wait, what?" pshe asked, kind of confused. "Why hide? Can't I just stay over here in this corner and draw? I have to wait for Mitsu-kun and Taka-chi anyway. They're my ride home."

"You might be mistaken for a new host," explained Kyoya with his usual droning voice.

"Why not make her a host?" Asked Mori.

Piper and the rest of the club just looked at the usually silent host with shocked expressions.

"What? But I-" she stammered.

"Your going to be spending most of your time with us anyways. Besides, you said you were looking for a haircut, right?"

"I guess so, but-"

Mori grunted, then shot Piper a heart-warming smile. For a crucial moment, she was at a loss for words.

Tamaki's eye gleamed all too quickly.

"Ahh! I see!" He said. "But what would her character be?"

"Ask Renge," said Kyoya.

(Powerful motor... Blah, blah, blah... Oh hohoho!... I don't feel like writing this part - you know what happens!)

Renge sat on her usual platform in the center of the room. "Cut her hair like Haruhi's and they can sit by each other. Then, I will evaluate her natural talents. At her age, she could be any number of characters! Still, I don't know why you would want a girl in the host club... See you later! Don't let the customers find that out!"

Her platform returned to its nest below the floor.

"You heard the woman! Lets go, go, go!" Shouted Tamaki.

Quickly, everyone scrambled to get Piper ready for the customers.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Asked Piper, meekly.

"NO!" The twins cried in unison before breaking into an evil laugh.

Piper was pulled into a chair as her hair was cut and styled in a manner similar to Haruhi's, who was sitting off to the side watching them change this poor girl into a host. She wondered if that was what she had looked like. They had decided fairly quickly to make her their pet, and even quicker to make her a host! However they hadn't known that Haruhi was a girl. What made Piper different? _I guess it's because this was Mori-sempai's idea, _thought Haruhi_. Mori doesn't make many decisions like this, so he must have felt pretty strongly about it... I wonder why he would decide that this of all things would be a good idea for someone as shy as her?_

By the time Haruhi had finished thinking, the twins had finished recreating Piper.  
The two girls had similar haircuts, except now Piper had bangs that covered part of her eyes in order to emphasize her apparent shyness around strangers. Piper now looked more like a boy than ever before. She had kind of a deep voice to begin with, so she didn't have to disguise it.

"You can sit with Haruhi over here, Piper," said Tamaki as she showed the somewhat flustered girl over to her seat.

"Be good," said Mori, as he ruffled Piper's hair.

She smiled at him.

"Don't worry! We'll be watching you!" Said Honey enthusiastically.

"Thanks guys, but I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing here..."

Everyone got situated in a position for the incoming customers, including the unconfidant new host.

"Welcome Princesses," and the door to music room three opened in a flurry of roses, light, and the sweet scent of the host club.

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*Tableaux (tah - BLOH) n. - the picturesque grouping of objects or persons, striking a scene

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Thank you to those of you who actually made it through the first chapter! Let us know how we could make the story better and what you would like to see next chapter. See you soon!

-Team GingerHaruhi


	2. To be a Host

Thank you for returning for chapter two! We're all fairly excited that you've made it this far. Thank you to all of you who commented last chapter and we'll try to incorporate as many fan suggestions into our story as we can! In our last chapter, our OC, Piper, was declared a host by her cousin, Mori-sempai. Today, she'll be sitting with Haruhi so that Renge can "evaluate her natural talents". And with that, lets begin!

DISCLAIMER!: We don't own Ouran (yet), only our OC's.

Piper sat by Haruhi, watching her sit there and be who she was, the natural. (Keep in mind Piper still doesn't realize Haruhi's a girl!)

"So, who's this, Haruhi?" Asked one of Haruhi's regular customers.

"This is Piper. She's Mori-sempai's cousin," explained Haruhi with one of her signature smiles.

"Hello, Piper!" The customer said, cheerfully.

"U-um, hi," stammered Piper, her face turning red. "I-its nice to meet you." Piper looked up at the girl in a way that made the girl instantly turn red and her voice softened.

"Haruhi," Piper looked over at her mentor. "Can I grab my sketchbook? I feel a bit safer if its nearby..."

Haruhi nodded. "Sure."

"Thank you," Piper smiled with the same smile Haruhi had used.

Haruhi blushed a little as Piper went over to the corner and pulled a sketchbook out of her somewhat beaten-up, old backpack.

Mori smiled, recognizing a trait often used by the Sayanozukas. "There it is," he said to Honey. "I knew she'd pull that out at some point. She must really be nervous. She did that extremely quickly."

"I suppose so," said Honey.

"What do you guys mean?" Asked one of their customers.

"Well," Honey said. "The Sayanozukas, like the Haninozukas, have also developed their own way of life. The Sayanozukas specialize in blending in and being able to get by without having to do much. When placed in a situation such as this, she used the 'copy' technique. She copied Haruhi's smile in order to escape for a small time to plan the best course of action. She's probably going to use her art in some way. She doesn't do well with strangers, so by showing her customers something else, she won't have to talk as much!"

"Wow! You sure know a lot about her, don't you Honey!"

"Of course! We three grew up together. Me and Piper used to have these HUGE cake eating contests! Speaking of which, would you like another slice?"

"Sure!"

Somewhere else in the room, Tamaki, Kyoya, and Renge also sat, spying on the newest host.

"Hmm," thought Renge. "You said the twins described her as artistic?"

"Yup," replied Tamaki.

"We need to find some way to bring that out of her..."

"Well, what if we asked her to design something for us?" Suggested Kyoya.

"Good idea!" Tamaki gave him a thumbs up. "But how do we get her to open up and stop being so shy?"

After a moment, Tamaki and Renge looked at each other. "Haruhi!" They said in unison, although for different reasons.

It was true that Haruhi was good at befriending people, but when the idiot king of the host club and the self-proclaimed lady manager called her over in the middle of catering to her customers, and to tell her she had to become "besties" with the new host, she worried that someone as seemingly shy Piper wouldn't know how to handle the customers while she was gone.

"So, how did you end up becoming a host, Pi-chan?" Asked one of the customers.

Apparently, although still painfully shy, in the three years she had been gone Piper had learned how to make a good impression on a stranger, so there was hardly any need for Haruhi to worry. She was a Sayanozuka! It was the family style to make, or fake, your way through anything.

"Well, Taka-chi was the one who made me a host," said Piper shyly. "It's my first day here and seeing my cousins were having fun here, they decided to let me be a part of it. It's been great so far." Piper turned to the clients with her bangs kind of covering her face. "After all, I get to meet even more great people like you ladies." Piper's eyes shone at her guests, leaving them speechless and red-faced.

"I was wondering if you would, um, critique my sketches, if you want to that is," requested Piper.

"Of course!" The customers cried in unison.

"I don't really get what's so great about the new host," said Hikaru to Haruhi and his brother after the twins had successfully pulled Haruhi away from the three who were evaluating Piper.

"Oh, don't be like that Hikaru," said Kaoru, staring at Piper. "Something about her reminds me of us."

"It could be the red hair," said Haruhi. "Or the fact that she's extremely artistic. You guys are fairly artsy yourselves, right?"

"I don't know..." Sighed Hikaru. "It seems like she's hiding something."

"Well if you guys are so interested in her, why don't we go ask Mori and Honey-sempai about her?" asked Haruhi.

"They've got customers," the twins replied in unison.

"And? That never seems to stop anyone else around here..."

"Point taken."

Over with Tamaki and Renge, people began to get restless. Needless to say, Renge and Tamaki were tired of just sitting and watching the new host.

"Oh... Mommy why can't we go over there again?" Asked Tamaki, wanting to go and actually meet the new host.

"Would you approach a lion in the wild?" Asked Kyoya simply.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Tamaki. "She seems more like a lamb, than a lion."

"Well, I've been doing some research and background checking on your 'lamb'. Apparently, a little while after the rumored incident at the US military base, the head of the Haninozukas got into an argument with the head of the Sayanozukas. Somehow, it ended up where the eldest child of each family, meaning Piper and Honey-sempai, were forced to duel."

"And?"

"It wasn't Honey who won."

Tamaki stood there, shocked.

"What's more is that it's rumored that the past three years, she's spent training in a secret base instead of attending Ouran. She hardly has any records besides that. Although it says she her only friends were her cousins and she often ran away from home..."

"Geez," said Renge. "Still, she ended up rich, pretty, talented, and surrounded by beautiful people. Who could ask for more?"

Tamaki stood there thinking. This shy, young girl was able to beat Honey-sempai in a fair fight? On top of that, she was an artist and was juggling her own problems?

He decided that despite Mommy's warnings, he was going to sit with his daughter's new partner.

Piper would prove to be an interesting character yet...

Thank you for reading all of the way to the end chapter two! We are glad you enjoyed this story enough to make it all the way here. Be sure to R&R! Join us again next chapter!

-Team GingerHaruhi


	3. The King, the New Host, and the Squish

Hey everyone! Thank you to everyone who commented last chapter and we'll try to respond to as many as we can. So, this is round three! Last chapter, we learned a little bit more about Piper, though, (in my opinion) it was a fairly useless chapter... Anyway, hopefully this time it will be a little bit more interesting. Enjoy!

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Piper stared wearily at the blonde, supposedly charming, and incredibly close, um, "king" of the host club.

Tamaki sat next to Piper, observing her.

The customers sat across from them, watching intently to see what these so far non-yaoi host club members (in which some members were considerably yaoi *cough-hikaruandkaoru-cough*) would do.

"Um," Piper said shyly. "Could I help you with something?" Piper looked up at Tamaki's incredibly close, violet eyes.

Tamaki said nothing, for he was caught up in one of his oh-so-famous mind theater bouts about Haruhi and her first non-psycho female friend. Oh, how great this would be if it worked out!

Piper sat, unmoving, waiting for her sempai to respond. She twisted her head to the side a bit. What was this guy's problem?

The twins, not far off and not willing to miss a chance to stir up some trouble, decided to take advantage of this situation. Quicker than the blink of an eye, the twins had set up a banana peel in the perfect place and gotten Honey to run over to his cousin to see if he (she) wanted to eat cake with him and Mori.

Time seemed to slow as Honey ran, stepped on the banana peel, glided across the smooth tile floor, and slammed into the back of Tamaki, his head slamming forward right into the face of the unexpecting Piper Sayanozuka.

Their lips smushed together, each developing extreme blush marks and those bluish depression lines on their faces.

"Eeeeeeeekk!" Squealed the fangirls, nealy fainting with excitement.

They each pulled back as quick as they could and wiped their faces.

"Uh, what the-" Piper started. Then she realized just how much the twins were laughing. Those brats were cracking themselves up! Every one except for them, poor Honey, and Kyoya had depression lines sinking down their faces. Oh, they were gonna get it!

Tamaki stood up. "Shut up!" He whined. "I knew it was you two shady twins!" Tamaki walked over and started screaming at them, all the while blush marks covering his face.

Honey-sempai ran up to apologize to Piper. "I'm so sorry Piper!" He cried, tears streaming down his face. "I swear! I didn't mean to! There was a banana peel, and I slipped, and I flew, and I hit Tamaki, and then you guys-"

Piper put her hand on Honey's head to stop him. "It's okay," She said sweetly. "I know you didn't mean to." The pair sparkled.

"So sweet..." Cooed the customers in unison.

"Oh yeah," Honey sniffed. "I came to ask if you wanted to come eat cake with me."

"I would love to," answered Piper as she grabbed Honey's hand. They walked over to where Mori was waiting.

"Strawberry, chocolate, or lemon?" Asked Honey.

Piper laughed and raised her eyebrows to ask if he was serious.

"Chocolate, I know!" Giggled Honey. Piper loved anything and everything chocolate. That and red meat were to her what fancy tuna was to Haruhi. (GingerHaruhi: This is something all of our OC's have in common!)

"What the hell!" Tamaki spat at the twins.

"Oh, geez!" Said the twins. "You should have seen the looks on your faces!"

The vein on Tamaki's head popped out. "So?! You two are the gay, yaoi, whatever people! Not me and the new host!"

"Well," interjected Kyoya. "You were the one sitting a little too close Piper... You were probably bugging her enough as it was. I can only imagine what she thinks of you now."

Tamaki nearly fainted.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki ran over to his precious daughter. "Does Piper hate me now?!"

"How the hell should I know?" Haruhi inched away from Tamaki. "You're not going to kiss me, are you?"

"My own daughter!"

"I'm not your daughter. And besides, why don't you just go ask her. I don't what it is with you guys and consulting me instead of the problem at hand. In today's case, the problem is Piper."

Fretfully, Tamaki turned to go sit with Mori, Honey, and Piper where they were peacefully enjoying their cakes.

"Yes that was perfect!" Shouted Renge, after watching Piper's small scene. "The way that she sat, innocently wondering, then the incredibly cute blush marks! Then her forgiving spirit towards her cousin..." Renge sighed.

"Nobody knows what you're talking about, otaku," said Hikaru.

"Boys like you just wouldn't get it," scoffed Renge.

The twins looked doubtful.

"I'm sorry Piper!" Gushed Tamaki. "I didn't mean to - you know - squish your face with mine!"

He stopped there because he realized Piper was laughing at him. She tried to stifle it, but it was really hard not crack up at a guy this unbelievable.

"It's okay," Piper giggled. "It's not like you did it on purpose. Plus, the twins have excellent timing, so you have to give them props for pulling off something like that. Besides, it's not like it was my first kiss or anything. Who has their first kiss in high school?"

All eyes in the room immediately flicked towards Haruhi.

"Wow. Thanks," she said, unamused.

"So, tell us a little about yourself," said Kaoru, referring to Piper.

"What do you want to know?"

"How about, um, what do you like to do for fun?"

"Hm... Fun... Well, a lot of my down time is spent training. I, like Taka-chi and Mitsu-kun, also study fighting a little bit. I like to read, sometimes write. I draw, as you can see in my sketchbook. I sculpt, I go to the simulation chamber a lot. We have one of those in downstairs level 2. I go on the Internet, I watch TV. Um, I play BlackOps, stuff like that. Oh, and I go to the nearby malls and get some of my favorite maids to help me pull pranks on random commoners. That's fun."

Hikaru and Kaoru's eyes lit up at that last bit. "Pranks and video games, huh? I approve!" Said Kaoru. Hikaru still watched Piper rather skeptically, though now not quite as against a new female host.

The last few customers drained out of the room, promising to return. The hosts just smiled and waved until they could pack up to go home.

"Piper," Mori said as they club was leaving music room three for the day. "How did you like your first day as a host?"

Piper smiled up at her older cousin. "I liked it a lot," she answered with a smile that could light up a room. Mori and the Haninozuka on his shoulders couldn't help but beam back down at their younger cousin. If she was happy, they would be too.

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Yay! You made it through yet another chapter! Next time, we'll show a little bit of Piper's life at home, so be sure to read, review and follow us! Thanks!

-Team GingerHaruhi


	4. Ryan Sayanozuka

Welcome to Chapter 4! I know it's an early update, but I've been in the car for the past six hours and I finished this chapter (among other things), so thought I'd post it! Anyway, blah, blah, blah... Here you go! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER! (For this chapter and the last!): We don't own Ouran, only our OC's!

Sayanozuka, Morinozuka, and Haninozuka walked (or were carried, in Mitskuni's case) side-by-side down the hallways to their awaiting limo.

The trio had already said goodbye to their fellow hosts and left for home.

"Don't forget to pick up Ryan, Billy!" Piper called to the driver as they got in the car. Yes, she knew his name was really Stephen, but her mom said he looked like Billy Joel once. Her mom had meant to say Hunter Hayes, but whatever. The name stuck and Billy didn't seem to mind. He was one of her best friends, in a big brother kind of way. He was around when Taka and Mitsu weren't, so they bonded quickly.

They arrived at Ouran Middle School just in time to find a young blonde boy crying i front of the school. As the limo pulled up in front of the school, the poor kid tried furiously to wipe the tears off of his face. Piper went out to get him.

"Come on kid," she picked up Ryan and dusted him off. "How was your day?"

"Fine," he sniffed. "It's just, when you didn't come, I was worried that something might of happened to you! You could have been kidnapped! They do that to people like us! They-"

Piper put her hand on his head to stop him. "Really? Kidnapped?" Piper retorted, ruffling his hair. "Who am I?"

"Piper Sayanozuka..." Ryan sniffed.

"I said, Who am I?!"

"Piper Sayanozuka!" Ryan wiped his face with his sleeve.

"I can't hear you!"

"PIPER SAYANOZUKA!"

"I'm Piper Sayanozuka! One of the strongest fighters and most amazing people in the world and I refuse to be kidnapped!"

Ryan cheered, the remaining tears sparkling in the corners of his eyes. He sighed, then looked like he was about to cry again. "But why were you three hours late?"

"You dunce." Piper dropped her fist on Ryan's head. "Weren't you listening to Uncle Haninozuka at dinner the other night?"

Ryan blushed and shook his head.

"Great job, idiot. I take it you didn't hear him say anything about the club Taka and Mitsu are in?"

Ryan just shook his head again.

"Geez," Piper started to walk towards the limo. "If you would stop talking to Chika and Satoshi for a second... I mean I know you three are best friends and all, but really..."

Suddenly, Piper felt a looming presence behind her. Instinctively she ducked. Piper watched a foot fly over her head and flipped backwards over her attacker.

"Ugh... And for once I thought you WOULDN'T try to fight me. I hate this rule..."

Like the Haninozukas, the Sayanozukas also were supposed to fight on contact. Piper, although good at it, didn't exactly enjoy fighting...

While she was lecturing him, Ryan had snuck behind her, trying to catch her off guard.

"That's not going to work!" Piper taunted.

A little peeved, Ryann tried to pin Piper to the ground with those tall, long needle things and jumped back.

Piper just laughed and jumped high in the air to dodge. Piper pulled a plastic pipe out of her backpack.

The onlookers in the limo sweatdropped. Piper's favorite weapon was the pipe. That wasn't ironic at all...

From the air, she dived towards her brother. It was all he could do to twirl out of the way, barely avoiding the speeding pipe(s) coming at him.

"Quick... Nice," Piper commented as she flipped backwards to avoid another onslaught of needles.

As they were thrown, Piper suddenly dropped out of the air and landed in an extremely uncomfortable looking position.

Had Ryan hit her for once? From a distance, he could see a needle sticking up from right about her... Heart. Had he killed her?! Ryan started to freak out. He'd killed his sister! His sister had died... By his own hand! Isn't death against the law?! 'No,' he thought. 'But, killing people is!'

He turned around, his sister's body beginning to make him sick. He tried to run to his cousins for comfort, but he couldn't move. His feet had been pinned down with his own needles!

"I win," said Piper behind him.

"B-but, I killed you!"

Piper sweatdropped before hitting him in the stomach with her pipe. Ryan doubled over. "It that was what you were going for, punk?"

Piper sighed. "It's not hard to catch a needle, put it in your armpit, and drop. Don't assume I'm dead. I'm not going to die. I'm a helluva lot better at this than you. One year and lots of talent makes a big difference."

Piper head locked her brother and dragged him to the limo.

"You're getting better!" Honey said to Ryan as the Sayanozukas sat down inside the car.

"Meh," he replied, still ticked off about, well, not killing his sister.

As they drove around, the foursome sat discussing random things about their day.

"Oh yeah," Ryan said. "Piper, why are you wearing the boy's uniform?"

"Uh... None of your busyness, you little brat! I don't think I need to tell you ANYTHING after you tried to KILL me." Piper barely slid through with that one.

"W-well..." Ryan stammered, looking away.

"Well?"

"Nothing...

Piper and her cousins had decided that Ryan didn't need to know that Piper was a part of the host club. This was shared in a silent glance between Takashi and Piper. They were both very good at the whole "silent" thing.

"Your parents said that you guys would be staying here until dinner tonight," Piper said to her cousins as they pulled up in the driveway of the Sayanozuka residence.

"Cool!" Said Honey. "Are we going to have cake?"

"Is Usa-chan pink?" Replied Piper.

"Yay!" Came the answer from the entire car, with the exception of Mori, who just clapped.

As everyone climbed out of the car, Piper realized something.

"Ryan, you realize that you could've just called Billy and had him come and pick you up, right?

Ryan turned away. "Psh. Ya...?"

Ryan turned back to face his sister. Clearly, she wasn't buying it and rolled her eyes. "That's what Chika-chan and Sato-chi do."

"Yeah well," Ryan began talking and Piper stopped listening. So she wasn't the greatest older sister in the world.

Piper began to closely study her family and their similarities.

'Ryan looks just like Mitsu-kun and Chika-chan, Sato-chi and Taka-chi look exactly alike, but I don't look like any of my family members...' Thought Piper randomly. She started to space out as she walked up the stairs, completely ignoring anything her going on around her.

As she stepped up to the next step - twenty six or so out of seventy (why they needed so many stairs, she would never know) - Piper stepped on the very edge of the step and slipped.

"Oomph!" Piper landed safely in the arms of a mystery person.

'Mmmm... This person smells nice... Waait, that's kind of creepy...' Thought Piper as she leaned into the strangers arms. She didn't recognize the scent, however. Who was it who'd caught her?

Haha! We're going to make you wait until Saturday to find out who it is! Leave any guesses/ideas about who this mystery person is down in the review box below! Thanks!

- Team GingerHaruhi


	5. The Sayanozuka Residence

Sorry for the late update! Somebody enjoyed their Spring Break a little too much... Anyway, thank you those who commented and followed/favorited. Now, we have come to the revealing of our mystery man! Enjoy!

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'Ryan looks just like Mitsu-kun and Chika-chan, Sato-chi and Taka-chi look exactly alike, but I don't look like any of my family members...' Thought Piper randomly. She started to space out as she walked up the stairs, completely ignoring anything her going on around her.

As she stepped up to the next step - twenty six or so out of seventy (why they needed so many stairs, she would never know) - Piper stepped on the very edge of the step and slipped.

"Oomph!" Piper landed safely in the arms of a mystery person.

'Mmmm... This person smells nice... Waait, that's kind of creepy...' Thought Piper as she leaned into the strangers arms. She didn't recognize the scent, however. Who was it who'd caught her?

Piper stood up straight.

"Underground training, a near ninja, artistically graceful, and yet, here you are tripping on your own thoughts as you try to make up the stairs. It's not as if you've ever walked up them before," the person said.

"Oh shut up, Owen," Piper said without turning around. She'd know his voice anywhere. He was the son of the head butler and unlike his father, he wasn't very gentlemanly at ALL. Owen Greene was the LAST person she wanted to see today... He always seemed to spoil her good mood.

"Why do you you smell like that today?" Piper asked, continuing to walk up the stairs.

"Ahh. So now you're smelling my manly scent are you? If you must know, I was helping my father in the kitchen."

"Your dad is a butler, not a cook."

"We polished the silverware."

"Great. Now I can't even use the silverware?"

"Aww, don't be mean," Owen fake-pouted.

Piper rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe she had thought he smelled good...

"Now I've left you speechless as well. I am on fire today!"

"Oh, please. The only reason I'm not saying anything is because it would come out in pretty colorful vocabulary. And we wouldn't want poe wittle Owen to get confused trying to figure out what I was trying to implicate. You know what? I'll tell ya flat out. LEEAAVE."

"I shall never leave your side princess," Owen mock-bowed.

"Oh, just go away already! Or better yet, I will. See you 'round!"

Piper went into ninja mode and handspringed and backflipped her way up the rest of the stairs, just to avoid that jackarse and keep up with her cousins and sibling.

Honey and Mori had already reached the top of the stairs while Owen and Piper were bickering. They got all the way up to find Chika and Satoshi arguing and messing around with the family of bunnies that lived in the tree between the dojo and the house.

As per usual, Chika attacked Honey on sight and Mori and Satoshi watched, glad that their family didn't make them do that. Ryan made it up the stairs just in time to see Honey's final attack. Piper, the slowest of the group, didn't make it up until the fight was over, which was fine by her.

Chika and Satoshi nearly tackled Piper when she made it to the top of the stairs.

"Piper!" They cried in unison.

"It seems like forever!" Said Satoshi.

"Mmm!" Agreed Chika.

"It was three days!" Cried Piper, ecstatic to see them too, but not so ecstatic about the lack of oxygen in her lungs.

She finally pried them off of her.

"Will you play something for us?" Asked Chika.

"Make the bunnies hop around a lot!" Added Satoshi.

"I'm not the Pied Piper. I can't make children run off into the forest by playing the flute," argued Piper as she pulled a penny-whistle out of her bag. Another talent she had lied in music. For much of the little down time she had, Piper taught herself how to play the flute, the penny-whistle, the piccolo, and the recorder. She hadn't known what a piper was at the time, but she had wanted to play the flute. So she did.

The melody that drifted through the small silver tube was jaunty and light. The rabbits did hear it, as Chika and Satoshi had assumed, and much to everyone's delight, they began hopping a little higher and bouncing around a bit faster.

Chika noticed one of the rabbits was standing off to the side, just sitting there as his family continued to jump around.

Chika scooped it up and began to pet it and try to relax it. Almost immediately, the little rabbit's body softened and leaned into him, claiming him as his own.

Piper stopped playing for a minute to catch her breath. "A new pet, Chika? What's his name?"

"Mmm... Halen," he replied gently.

"Cute." Piper blushed.

Owen watched from off to the side, unnoticed. He watched Piper as he had done for years, smiling when she did and his heart thudding loudly as he watched her blush at the bunny. She was so cute! He'd never let her know that, though. He liked the way their relationship was and he didn't want to change it.

Eventually, everyone made it inside. Homework was started, (Piper, Mitskuni, and Takashi in Piper's room, and Ryan, Chika, and Satoshi in Ryan's room) snacks were devoured, and everyone became extremely bored. Sort of.

When everyone had finished what they needed to, they all gathered downstairs where the elevator was. The six children of the "-nozuka clan" crammed themselves into the elevator and Piper inserted a special key into a special, hidden slot. The doors slid closed and the group entered underground basement level two, otherwise known as the simulation chamber.

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Sorry its kind of short... Be sure to remember Owen and Billy. They will be important to the story! Tune in next time for the happenings in the simulation chamber! As always, thank you for reading and we really appreciate the comments, follows, and favorites. (Not-So-Subtle Hint) Thank you!

-Team GingerHaruhi


	6. Simulation Chamber

Ahh! Apologies for the INCREDIBLY late update! So much has been going on and there hasn't been enough time in the day to get this done! Finally, we have got around to writing our simulation chamber story... Here's chapter 6! Enjoy!

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The six stepped out of the elevator and into the room known as the "Simulation Chamber".

Piper snapped her fingers and the room buzzed to life. 'Whhirr.'

Piper recognized the sound as the one that had played behind her training so many times before. She looked up at Mori. To anyone else he looked calm and straight faced as always, but she could tell he wasn't. The clenched muscles in his jaw and the alertness of his eyes and ears told her he was nervous.

She smiled at this. The great and powerful Mori nervous? Never.

Ha, yeah right.

She watched his eyes dart around as she ordered the machine to set up situation 1146-B. she wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was a Haninozuka setting. Situations 1-999 were Sayanozuka, 1000-1999 were Haninozuka, and 2000-2999 were Morinozuka. Anything beyond that was undeveloped.

The machine whirred and in a bright flash of light, Piper, Honey, and Mori were standing back in front of the host club doors. This is what Mitsu-kun had programmed into the machine?

Ryan, Yasuchika, and Satoshi had disappeared, probably in a similar simulation in an alternate hologrid. The hologrid system reacted with each person's brain waves making their senses react with the simulation presented before them. A person felt all pain and weight, and could smell, taste, see, and hear whatever it was in hologram. The only exceptions were that you could not die and it all stopped when you exited. However, you could not exit until you completed the level or you were supposed to die.

Cautiously, Piper looked over at her expectant cousins, waiting for a replay of what had happened earlier that day. Again, they nodded and Piper turned the knob.

This time though, the door did not open into the host club. Instead, it opened into a large, black hole. A rosy smelling hole, but a hole nonetheless.

Suddenly, the room began to tilt and shrink until the hallway was so small and tipped that all the trio could do to keep from falling into the hole was hang on to the door handle above the abyss and cling to each other. Then, with a sickening crack, the door handle broke off and the three plummeted into darkness.

Yasuchika, Satoshi, and Ryan:

The three ninth grade* boys stood in front of the door just as Piper and the other two had done in their hologrid. Yasuchika marched right up to the door and yanked on the handle, only instead of finding a black hole, they found the actual host club.

Everyone went around working and ignoring the visitors, which was something unusual for the hologrid to project. In fact, the three boys found that they could not interact at all with the people there, only watch them.

Satoshi liked to sneak down here every once in a while and he knew what was going on. They were watching a memory replay. Sometimes he had to sit in one of these while Piper finished training so he wouldn't interrupt her simulation with his physical presence. This was someone's memory! But whose was it?

After Satoshi explained to him where they were, Ryan noticed something strange that hadn't happened in any story he'd heard of the host club. His sister was there. And in a soaked female uniform, too. And her hair was long... She looked completely different from how she did now!

A raven-haired boy with glasses handed her a bag. Piper took it and the Mitskuni hologram showed her out of the room. When Piper came back, she was in the boys' uniform, but her hair was still long. Not long after that, Mori suggested Piper become a host and the host club restyled her hair into the way it looked now.

Then, something even stranger happened. Piper took a seat next to a petite, brunette boy, across from some guests.

Ryan was stunned. His sister was... A host?

Piper, Mori, and Honey:

"Ugh..." Piper groaned. She woke up on a cold, tile floor with a pounding headache. The other two were nowhere to be found. Looking around, Piper realized she was back in the hallway outside of the room.

"I've gone nowhere!" She said, frustrated. She should have chosen a different simulation.

Again, Piper timidly stood up and opened the door. This time, she was greeted by the host club, and an expensive-looking vase on her left.

"Welcome, princess,"

Tamaki looked slightly shocked to see her.

"Oh you're a boy," he said, as though pondering the thought. "Well," he said after a moment. "We are welcoming to all sexualities. What is your type? The strong and silent type, the boy Lolita type, the cool type, the little devil type, or maybe you're into the princely type, like me." Tamaki stroked a finger under Piper's chin, which made her shudder.

"Uh..." Piper clung to the sketchbook and pencil that had appeared in her hands. Quickly, she came up with an excuse. "I w-was just looking for a nice, quiet place t-to draw.

Piper kept backing up as the host club inched towards her. She tried to get out through the door, but it was locked. Finally, she ended up just kept backing up until she hit something. It was the pedestal with the vase on it!

Quickly, Piper moved to catch the vase as it toppled over. Apparently though, the hologrid didn't want her to do that because it slipped out of her grasp and shattered on to the floor.

Piper stood there, quivering over the pedestal where the vase sat moments before.

'Crap!' She thought. 'I can't let my parents find out about this!'

Even in a simulation, she was the one to worry about what others might think.

'I'll just pull it out of my allowance maybe...'

"Aww," said a pair of familiar voices in unison. "We were going to start the bidding on that for eight million yen!"

"I don't even get that much allowance in three years!" Piper replied, amazed at how much money someone would spend on a useless vase.

"Um... Can I pay you back later?" Asked Piper hopelessly.

"Of course not. You've caused a lot of trouble on your first day, Saya-chan."

Piper drooped. "I know..."

"However, there is another way. Since you are not half-bad looking, you will work as a host and errand boy. Prepare yourself, Saya. You have your work cut out for you!"

"I know, I know..."

"SIMULATIONS ENDED."

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*The Japanese consider ninth to be a part of middle school and not high school, resulting in a three year high school instead of the four year high school, which is typical for Americans.

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Now! Straight on to Chapter 7! Thank you to MaxXFang4ever for the awesome words of encouragement. From now on, shout-outs to those who leave positive comments! And now... without further ado... (Press the Next Chapter Button!)

-TeamGingerHaruhi


	7. Ryan Knows!

Okay, here we are! Straight into chapter seven! Let's get started!

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"SIMULATIONS ENDED," said the simulation room. Once again, the kids of the nozuka clan stood in the empty simulation chamber.

Ryan, Satoshi, and Chika stood, shocked that Piper was a host. Mori and Honey turned out to be the ones that had been in the simulation, so they didn't evaporate as the rest of the simulations had.

The first person to speak was Ryan. "YOU'RE A HOST!?" He said, not angry but more horrified or disgusted maybe...

Piper shrunk back sheepishly. "Ummm, uh, h-h-how d-d-did y-you find out?"

The three boys opened their mouths to say something, but immediately closed them as Mori put his hand and said,"Yes. She's a host."

He smiled down at her. She smiled back, a sweatdrop running down the side of her face. She felt that Taka-chi had done more harm then good with that one. Her brother would be interrogating her later...

Everyone exited the simulation chamber, planning on staying out at least until their parents got home and they needed to escape.

Piper left them behind with the excuse that she 'needed to do something really quick.' Yep. That 'really quick' would not be as quick as everyone expected.

Piper ran out of the house, her face bright red. Her brother knew she was a host. That couldn't be good.

'Great first day back in reality...' Piper thought to herself, sitting down on the bottom step. She put her head in her hands. "Let's see. I became the quiet girl that no one knows or likes, got myself soaked by the rain, somehow ended up a cross-dresser and a host, I was KISSED by a fellow host, and to top it all off, my brother knows!"

"Sounds like quite the list," said a voice behind her.

Piper watched as Billy sat down beside her.

"Yeah, no kidding," Piper said, leaning back and looking up at the sunset and pink-tinged clouds. She sighed. "I just wish that I could start today all over again. I would do everything differently. Everything would be better if I knew how to fix things ahead of time."

"Someday you'll feel differently," said Billy. "You'll be glad that you did all that you did today. It seems like the kind of thing that could affect, well, your entire life. Being a host that is."

He smiled, a distant look creeping across his face.

Piper turned and flashed him one of her signature crooked smiles. "Maybe your right, but I certainly don't feel that way right now." She sighed again, this time a content look showing on her face, although she almost felt worse. Billy knew just what to say and now she felt bad that she had run out on her cousins like that.

He was right, but she still felt regret and running out on her family to deal with her nonexistent problems was just another thing to add to her list of things currently causing it.

Billy felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. "Looks like the boys want to go to the other side of the estate... I guess I'll see you later."

Piper stood up and gave her friend an awkward hug. "Good luck with the little monsters," she said with a half-hearted smile.

He left and Piper walked away from where they had been sitting. She wandered along the sidewalks until she came upon a place she hadn't been in a very long time: her old secret garden.

She stood in front of a wall covered in brilliant red and gold ivy leaves. There was a tall, old tree next to the wall that they had always used to climb in and out of the garden. Its low-hanging branches had been perfect for climbing when her and her cousins and brother had been small.

Piper leapt into the branches of the tree with ease and grace, making her way over the wall. She plopped down into an overgrown jungle of tall grass, wildflowers, and large rocks. There were old toys and deflated balls and even a tire swing tied to the tree in the very back.

She laughed loudly, remembering that swing and for a moment, forgetting about what had been troubling her. She remembered how she had sat on that swing, kind of afraid because it was around Halloween and her mother had just given her the whole strangers lecture.

Honey had snuck behind her in his little vampire Halloween costume and pushed her and Piper had knocked him flat on his back and nearly pounded his face in.

She was still better than the so-called world champion fighter. Just because she was a girl and not as well known didn't mean anything and the whole family knew it.

Piper stopped laughing and just breathed in the moment. It was rare that she had silence and solitude like that. No speech necessary. (Speaking bothered her. It frustrated her that she couldn't make her thoughts into precise words.) Just her, herself, and-

"It's fairly nice, isn't it?" Someone jumped down from the tree behind her.

"You make it sound like you've been down here recently, Owen."

"I don't come down, but I make sure it's ready for whoever when they need it."

"Yeah? And how does that work?"

"Doesn't matter. You needed it and it was here. Almost like that one room in Harry Potter. What was it called again?"

"Doesn't matter. Ugh, you and your stupid nerd movie references..."

"For your information, Harry Potter is NOT stupid. It is one of the greatest movies since Lord of the Rings!"

Piper walked away, calling out, "they're both stupid!"

Owen chased behind her through the tree. "Oh, no. I am NOT done lecturing you yet! Harry Potter was a young trapped teen, not unlike us..."

Owen and Piper bickered over Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and the other awesome nerd movies all the way back to the house, where they continued the battle through dinner.

The others looked around at the kid who had left the house beet-red with embarrassment and regret and returned in a heated argument with all of it forgotten. Piper didn't need more unhappiness. It was good. Life was good.

Later that evening...

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CLIFFHANGER! And this time we won't leave you hanging for three weeks! Again, über sorry! Next week we will also put out two chapters, so that we are caught up to schedule. Until next week!

- Team GingerHaruhi

(ps. Props to whoever can name that room from HP I mentioned! Comment below!)


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